


Please Hand in Your Papers

by VeraBAdler



Series: October 2020 challenges [10]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26930392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeraBAdler/pseuds/VeraBAdler
Summary: Dean writes something that falls into the wrong hands... Or does it?
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: October 2020 challenges [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947589
Comments: 24
Kudos: 113
Collections: Destiel Promptober 2020





	Please Hand in Your Papers

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt 1: Slow Dancing  
> Prompt 2: Sweet Rides

Mr. Singer is still going over the details of their free-writing assignment, but Dean isn't listening. Free-writes are always the same: Singer sets a timer, you write on the topic without stopping until the timer goes off, then you use what you wrote to build your next paper. Rinse, lather, repeat -- they've been doing this all year, and Dean _gets it_. He's got other things on his mind right now, like the conversation he'd had with Charlie at lunch...

"Stop saying you don't have a shot with him!" Charlie had hissed, punching him hard on the arm.

"There's no way, Charles. He's... He's _so smart_ , and _cute_ , and really nice to everyone, and there's _no way_ he'd be interested in me."

" _Why not_ , Dean? You're a great guy! You have so much to offer to the right person. Any guy or girl would be lucky to have you."

Dean had scoffed and changed the subject, but Charlie's words are still bouncing around in his head. _You have so much to offer_... Like what? What does _he_ have that Cas Novak could _ever_ want?

Singer stops talking, and the sound of shuffling paper pulls Dean out of his thoughts as the free-write begins. He looks down at the blank sheet in front of him.

"What Do I Have To Offer Cas Novak?" he writes at the top of the page and underlines it. _Screw the assignment,_ he thinks. _I've got the next paper pretty much outlined already. I need to think this through._ He starts adding bullet points under the heading:

  * Someone to slow dance with at prom
  * Sweet rides to/from school in Baby
  * Can get him burgers for free at the Roadhouse
  * I could fix his car if it ever breaks down



Does Cas even have a car? Dean's not sure. He wants to know _everything_ about the boy, but they rarely interact outside of class. Dean gets so tongue-tied around him. Even when they do talk, it's always kind of stilted and brief.

He runs a hand through his hair and closes his eyes. He can't think of another bullet point. Cas is _amazing_ and Dean's nothing special. This is hopeless. 

He doodles the Metallica logo in the corner of his paper until the timer goes off, then moves to crumple his list up and throw it in the garbage. Except then Mr. Singer says something that shuts down Dean's entire nervous system.

"Okay idjits, like I said, you're gonna swap these free-writes with a partner for feedback. But I want you all to get _real feedback,_ so you're not just gonna trade with your bestie. We're gonna mix things up. Bass, trade with Sanchez. Banes with Miller."

Dean's spine turns to ice. His brain catches on fire. Someone is gonna _read_ what he _wrote_. Singer keeps rattling off pairs of names. Too many people get up at once to pass their papers to their assigned partners, and there's a traffic jam in the middle of the room. Singer tells everyone to sit their butts back down and he starts grabbing pages off desks and dropping them onto other desks. 

"Novak with Winchester."

Dean's pretty sure he has an actual heart attack and dies when Mr. Singer scoops the paper off his desk and places it in front of Cas. Unfortunately, death doesn't free him from the slow-motion train wreck he's trapped in here. Singer drops Cas's page onto Dean's desk and moves on.

Five, ten, fifteen minutes pass and Dean's still dazed with panic. He does actually try to read over Cas's writing and make some helpful notes, because what the hell, right? Might as well be remembered as a good student when they're giving the eulogy at his funeral. He's not sure if what he writes makes sense, though, or is even legible. The pencil doesn't seem to want to stay gripped in his numb fingers.

Singer calls time, gathers all the pages up, and returns them to their owners. Dean hears paper hit his desk but he's got his eyes closed, and he doesn't plan on opening them again, ever. He doesn't want to see whatever polite "I'm flattered, but..." note Cas has left him. Or, shit, what if Cas wasn't flattered, wasn't polite? What if he was insulted, or disgusted, or angry? What if Dean's paper is full of curse words scrawled in red ink with a big "FUCK OFF" at the top? Or, what if Cas didn't write anything at all? Dean thinks somehow that would be the worst, if Cas just ignored it completely. He has to look. He has to know. He opens his eyes.

Where there had been four bullet points before, there are now _twelve_. In his tidy hand, Cas has added things like "a beautiful heart" and "fantastic sense of humor" and "endless kindness" and "gorgeous". He's also left some notes beside Dean's original items. After "Someone to slow dance with at prom" he's added "yes, please!!!" He's written "your car is so cool!" next to the item about Baby, and he's drawn about twenty tiny hearts next to the word "Roadhouse" and then "I love Ellen's burgers!"

At the bottom of the page, Cas has left him a grade, perfectly mimicking Dr. Singer's style: "10/10 - see me after class! Burgers and mini-golf Friday? 778-237-3022"

Holy _crap_. Dean's got a _date_.

**Author's Note:**

> Rebloggable link for this fic on tumblr is [here](https://blessyourhondahurley.tumblr.com/post/631597384804286464/please-hand-in-your-papers).


End file.
